I had my trepidations about another movie based on a video game, scars remain from “Super Mario Bros.”, but after viewing a behind the scenes trailer for “Gran Turismo” I have a sense of relief that the movie is heading in the right direction. In the trailer we get snippets of the racing action that has a realistic feel with camera angles similar to the Gran Turismo 7 video game. That’s a compliment, by the way. The GT series is one of the top racing simulating video games and my devotion to it is strong.
The movie is not totally based on the video game, but it plays a role in the story. “Gran Turismo” is based on the true story of gamer Jann Mardenborough who parlayed his GT video game prowess into an invitation to the Nissan TV competition series, “GT Academy”. The TV show took GT gamers and moved them from PlayStations and into a series of real driving contests. The winner received a spot in Nissan’s Driver Development Program with a chance to start a racing career.
Mardenborough parlayed his TV series victory into an established professional racing career that has seen him race in the GP3 Series, the Japanese Super GT series, and a third-place finish in the LMP2 class at the 2013 24 Hours of Le Mans. In the cinematic version of his life Mardenborough is portrayed by Archie Madekwe, with Geri Halliwell as his mom and Djimon Hounsou as his dad.
To date, not a lot of plot details have been released, but “Le Mans: Racing Is Everything” on Amazon delves into Jann Mardenborough’s career and you can glean some insight into his life before seeing the movie.
“Gran Turismo” will be playing at a movie theater near you starting on August 11, 2023.
